Bad experience at Lute Riley Honda in Dallas (long)
10-09-2003, 04:18 AM
#1
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Did y'all know that at Lute Riley Honda (in Dallas), repair prices are negotiable? If you bring your car to them, be prepared to haggle. If you don't, you're likely to be sodomized.
A friend of mine has a '97 Accord, and last week he shut the door, and the window slid halfway down the track. Uh oh. On Saturday, he brought his car by my place, and we proceeded to diagnose the problem. We pulled the door panel off, and discovered that the cable that raises and lowers the window had snapped.
He brought it by the $tealership on Tuesday morning, and his $ervice advi$or told him that it would take them 2.0 hours (at $86/hour) to diagnose the problem. My friend promptly pointed out that he had spent the previous Saturday removing the door panel and investigating what was wrong. Since the door was still disassembled, he offered to show the $ervice advi$or the exact part that needed to be replaced. This was Haggling Episode #1.
Around noon Lute Riley called him to say that he would need to part with no less than $630 (or roughly 8% of the value of his car) to get the window fixed. Holy $hit. Apparently, $250 was for parts, and then they were going to charge him for 4.7 hours of labor (at $86/hr).
After recovering from his heart attack, he told me what was going on, and I began doing some research. I found the part that needed to be replaced for $96.17 (OEM part, mind you), and found out that the repair was as simple as unbolting the old one and installing the new one.
He called the $tealership back, and told his $ervice advi$or that the only way they'd get $630 from him would be to pry it from his cold dead hands. My friend told them that he could get the part for under $100, the installation was simple, and that he was in the market for a new car. The price was lowered to ~$375. Haggling Episode #2.
My buddy told them to go ahead and fix it since he needed his car for work and he didn't want to mess with it anymore. The next day he went in to get his car, and expressed his dissatisfaction with the treatment he had gotten thus far, and reiterated how he's in the market for a new car, and it would be a shame if Lute Riley lost his business because he felt like he got ripped off. He said that $375 was too much to pay for simply removing a broken part from an already-disassembled door and installing a new part.
Then he looked at the bill. In addition to the part that was actually broken, he had been charged for several wiring harnesses and a panel that had "supposedly" been replaced on the inside of the door. The $ervice advi$or said that the harnesses were damaged and needed to be replaced and the panel was installed to replace a broken one.
Once again, my buddy called Lute Riley's bull$hit. He told the advi$or that he himself had removed the door panel, and there were no damaged wiring harnesses, and there was certainly not a broken panel inside the door. At least when he dropped off the car. Anyway, he told the $ervice advi$or that he would like to remove the door panel right there and see the harnesses and panel that had supposedly been replaced. Guess what happened at that point? Uh huh. The bastard $ervice advi$or said there was no need to do that and took the items in question off the bill. This lowered the price from $375 to $275. Haggling Episode #3.
My friend ended up being charged $140 for the part and for 1.5 hours of labor. What lessons did we learn here? First, and most obvious, be very, very careful when you let the $tealer repair your car. Had some little old lady gone in there, they would have likely gotten $630 out of her for $275 worth of work. Second, repair prices are negotiable, at least at Lute Riley Honda. Third, if you think you're getting raped, you probably are. Fourth, do a little research before paying anyone to repair your car. Thankfully, we had diagnosed the problem, and I was able to locate a fair price for the part (singular) that was broken. Had we not opened up the door, he would have gotten bent over the proverbial barrel. Fifth, share you experiences with others. Hopefully my friend will write a letter to Honda and to Mr. Lute Riley and relate the experience he had. There can be no denying that they tried to rip him off, and I hope there are some consequences for those involved.
A friend of mine has a '97 Accord, and last week he shut the door, and the window slid halfway down the track. Uh oh. On Saturday, he brought his car by my place, and we proceeded to diagnose the problem. We pulled the door panel off, and discovered that the cable that raises and lowers the window had snapped.
He brought it by the $tealership on Tuesday morning, and his $ervice advi$or told him that it would take them 2.0 hours (at $86/hour) to diagnose the problem. My friend promptly pointed out that he had spent the previous Saturday removing the door panel and investigating what was wrong. Since the door was still disassembled, he offered to show the $ervice advi$or the exact part that needed to be replaced. This was Haggling Episode #1.
Around noon Lute Riley called him to say that he would need to part with no less than $630 (or roughly 8% of the value of his car) to get the window fixed. Holy $hit. Apparently, $250 was for parts, and then they were going to charge him for 4.7 hours of labor (at $86/hr).
After recovering from his heart attack, he told me what was going on, and I began doing some research. I found the part that needed to be replaced for $96.17 (OEM part, mind you), and found out that the repair was as simple as unbolting the old one and installing the new one.
He called the $tealership back, and told his $ervice advi$or that the only way they'd get $630 from him would be to pry it from his cold dead hands. My friend told them that he could get the part for under $100, the installation was simple, and that he was in the market for a new car. The price was lowered to ~$375. Haggling Episode #2.
My buddy told them to go ahead and fix it since he needed his car for work and he didn't want to mess with it anymore. The next day he went in to get his car, and expressed his dissatisfaction with the treatment he had gotten thus far, and reiterated how he's in the market for a new car, and it would be a shame if Lute Riley lost his business because he felt like he got ripped off. He said that $375 was too much to pay for simply removing a broken part from an already-disassembled door and installing a new part.
Then he looked at the bill. In addition to the part that was actually broken, he had been charged for several wiring harnesses and a panel that had "supposedly" been replaced on the inside of the door. The $ervice advi$or said that the harnesses were damaged and needed to be replaced and the panel was installed to replace a broken one.
Once again, my buddy called Lute Riley's bull$hit. He told the advi$or that he himself had removed the door panel, and there were no damaged wiring harnesses, and there was certainly not a broken panel inside the door. At least when he dropped off the car. Anyway, he told the $ervice advi$or that he would like to remove the door panel right there and see the harnesses and panel that had supposedly been replaced. Guess what happened at that point? Uh huh. The bastard $ervice advi$or said there was no need to do that and took the items in question off the bill. This lowered the price from $375 to $275. Haggling Episode #3.
My friend ended up being charged $140 for the part and for 1.5 hours of labor. What lessons did we learn here? First, and most obvious, be very, very careful when you let the $tealer repair your car. Had some little old lady gone in there, they would have likely gotten $630 out of her for $275 worth of work. Second, repair prices are negotiable, at least at Lute Riley Honda. Third, if you think you're getting raped, you probably are. Fourth, do a little research before paying anyone to repair your car. Thankfully, we had diagnosed the problem, and I was able to locate a fair price for the part (singular) that was broken. Had we not opened up the door, he would have gotten bent over the proverbial barrel. Fifth, share you experiences with others. Hopefully my friend will write a letter to Honda and to Mr. Lute Riley and relate the experience he had. There can be no denying that they tried to rip him off, and I hope there are some consequences for those involved.
10-09-2003, 06:40 AM
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Sorry to hear. Unfortunately, that's not unusual for service depts to do. I've had similar experiences of "bargaining" for parts and labor at Honda and Toyota dealerships. Many will take as much advantage of customers as they think they can get away with.
10-09-2003, 07:18 AM
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I had a conversation recently with a fleet manager at Toyota while shopping for a car for my wife. He quoted me invoice right off the bat. We got to talking about the regular car salesman and I asked how many people walk in and pay sticker without haggling. He said about 1 in 40 pay full price and fall for every mark up there is. They're suckers for falling for it and Toyota are bastards for doing it. But almost every dealership does it to some degree, which sucks.
Another thing he mentioned was his relative salary. Humm, curious how a guy who supposedly sells car's at invoice can still make a 6 figure income.
Honda of Mckinney tried to get 4 times Honda's recommended retail price for accessories they had installed on their inventory cars. When I told them what the suggested retail price of the accessories were (installed), they swore that was well below there cost. Funny, how a few minutes later when I told them no deal, they agreed to sell them to me for my asking price.
Moral of the story - EVERYTHING AT A DEALERSHIP IS NEGOTIABLE
Another thing he mentioned was his relative salary. Humm, curious how a guy who supposedly sells car's at invoice can still make a 6 figure income.
Honda of Mckinney tried to get 4 times Honda's recommended retail price for accessories they had installed on their inventory cars. When I told them what the suggested retail price of the accessories were (installed), they swore that was well below there cost. Funny, how a few minutes later when I told them no deal, they agreed to sell them to me for my asking price.
Moral of the story - EVERYTHING AT A DEALERSHIP IS NEGOTIABLE
10-09-2003, 07:58 AM
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lol, funny you mention this, I had kind of gotten used to it, I live in West Palm, and I needed to get my clutch replaced, so I DROVE the car to Honda and had them check it out, give me an estimate. Not only did they want over $1000 for the replacement, the car no longer would go in gear. Looking back on it I should have made them pay the towing, but I promptly took it to a mechanic I know who did the whole job including parts for $550, during this process Honda called me several times, every time with a lower price. They then called my friend (the mechanic) complaining that he was stealing their business. Now although I regret not throwing a fit and making them pay the towing, I just remember being so happy about saving nearly $500.
I have had to deal with this so many times with Honda, my supposed certified Prelude. Yea right, you know how difficult it is to get them to honor the 100,000 mile warranty even with the sticker on the car and the fact that i bought the car from them.
Now my headlight is out, I took it in while i still had the 60,000 mile warranty, and a week after driving it after being "fixed" it shut off again.
I took it in, they said they tightened it as much as they could but it now needs a com,plete new headlight assembly which is a mere $400.00, which they failed to assess the previous time i brought the car in a week earlier.
I can't stand the feeling of being raped......... Honda if you are reading this, please do something to give us back our confidence in ur service departments. so many complaints, when will the raping end
well thats my rant
eddie
I have had to deal with this so many times with Honda, my supposed certified Prelude. Yea right, you know how difficult it is to get them to honor the 100,000 mile warranty even with the sticker on the car and the fact that i bought the car from them.
Now my headlight is out, I took it in while i still had the 60,000 mile warranty, and a week after driving it after being "fixed" it shut off again.
I took it in, they said they tightened it as much as they could but it now needs a com,plete new headlight assembly which is a mere $400.00, which they failed to assess the previous time i brought the car in a week earlier.
I can't stand the feeling of being raped......... Honda if you are reading this, please do something to give us back our confidence in ur service departments. so many complaints, when will the raping end
well thats my rant
eddie
10-09-2003, 08:10 AM
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Lute Riley is the worst dealer in the area, regardless of car make. There have been many problems posted in the North Texas forum. My own experience was trying to buy 3 different Honda's there over the years. Unfortunately, my Dad lives a few blocks away and has had similar problems with being charged for warranty work.
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10-09-2003, 08:13 AM
#8
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Yeah I for one bought my car at Lute Riley, 03 black/black. I know what dealerships do when they get your car, I was super paranoid seeing my car driven off to have lojack installed. Their service was alright, the salesperson was my dads friend so he was really nice to us. Their prices are 
, They had a 5000 markup on the s2k 3 months ago. What a joke.
, They had a 5000 markup on the s2k 3 months ago. What a joke.
10-10-2003, 04:14 AM
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I bought a $1500 extended warranty for my S2000 at Lute Riley and guess what, they screwed up. The woman told me to call Honda in about a week if I had not gotten my paperwork in the mail. Well, I work 30 hours a week and I am a full time student also, so I dont' have that much time on my hands and I forget things like that sometimes. So a month goes by and I'm thinking, "where's my warranty paperwork?". So I call Honda like she says, and they hoven't recieved anything in my name. (WTF!#1) So I call her, she ofcourse isn't there. She then calls me back 4 days later saying that she got my message the day I called but she didn't call me back that day because she hadn't found anything out. (WTF!#2) I tell her that she should have called as soon as she got my message to tell me she was working on it, but I guess she thought that wasn't the appropriate thing to do with a customer that just spent $1500 with her. I ask her, "what if my engine would have blown up while you lost my paperwork?" Her: "I don't know". (stupid %#$*!)
Anyway, she finally figured out about a week later what happened. The "warranty manager" didn't turn in the paper work, therfore Honda never got anything.
How is the management at a dealership so bad they their employees forget to turn in simple paperwork? Was it just sitting on her desk for a month?
The world is full of stupid people, and they all work at car dealerships.
Anyway, she finally figured out about a week later what happened. The "warranty manager" didn't turn in the paper work, therfore Honda never got anything.
How is the management at a dealership so bad they their employees forget to turn in simple paperwork? Was it just sitting on her desk for a month?
The world is full of stupid people, and they all work at car dealerships.